Roadbed equipment for railroads



Sept. 6, 1932. A. MARIANI ROADBED EQUIPMENT FOR RAILROADS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 25, 1931 Sept. 6, 1932. A. MARIAN] ROADBED EQUIPMENT FO RRAILROADS Filed May 25, 1931 2 Sheets$heet 2 Patented Sept 6, 1932 [UNITED STATES ALFONSO.1VIARIANI, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA ROADBED EQUIPMENT FOR RAILROADS Application filed May 25 1931. Serial No. 539,883.

Generally stated the primary or main object of my invention is to so construct the track and associated members of railroads as to eliminate or greatly diminish accidents to passengers, freight and equipment and railroad hands or operatives, dimlnish or reduce cost of construction and maintenance, the latter both in regard to replacement and saving time in making repairs to road bed,

. and to secure these various advantages by constructions which will contribute to all of them. When the embodiment of my inven tion which I have selected for illustration and description as a desirable but not exclusive embodiment of my ideas or invention is understood, it will be seen that while all the various parts or members thereof may be advantageously employed or usedat the same time, yet I do not restrict myself to that because there may be embodiments of my in-' vention in which all'of such parts or members will not be used and there may be variations in construction of thevarious parts and the arrangement or combination thereof from what I show in the drawings and will describe in detail which nevertheless will be in the spirit or scope of my invention.

Accordingly my invention is to be understood to be whatever is described by or is included within the terms orfscope of. the

appended claims.

In its main or principal features, it will be found that my invention is concerned with the switch in regard both tothe con- 5 struction of the variousmembers involved in railroad switch construction and in regard to the operation or control of the movable members such as the switch points. In the accompanying drawings p Fig. 1 is a top plan view ofa portion of'a railroad track or bed embodying my invention; c a r Fig. 1a is a detail section on line 1ala of Fig. 1; Y.

Figs, 2 and 3 are, respectively, perspective detail views;

Fig. 3a is a detail perspective view of the double switch stand reversible crank; Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively cross-sections on the dotted lines of Figs. 1 and 2 with numbers corresponding to the number of such figures.

Fig. 6 is a cross section, line 66, Fig. 1 showing one of the ties with a metal top plate. j

Describing in detail what is shown in the drawings, the main line rails are designated 10, and the siding rails are designated 11 and there are, of course, the usual switch points, i2, and the frog, 13. The frog, l3,is a single casting or forging and-its upper and lower'sides are alike in that both upper and lower sides have the equivalent of a rail head,14, and adepression or channel, 15, lying between them for the passage of the flanges of the car wheels and at each end the frog has a longitudinally extending tongue, 16, that fits between the main and siding rails. My object'in making the frog with duplicate top and bottom faces is to double the life of the frog because when one side becomes too worn for service, then by reversing'it or turning it upside down, a fresh surface is available for use. It is a feature of my inventionthat the frog may beremoved and replaced in an inverted position or a new frog substituted without the disturbance of the rails or any part of the road 'bed excepting the frog clamps or chairs, the result being that the" operation of removing and replacing a frog may be done expeditiously and with saving of cost both in regard to the workmans time and hinderan'ce of use of the road bed for traflic. 5

At each end of the frog, I provide similar. chairs of a length'that may extend over two adjacent cross-ties each of which chairs cornprises a base plate, 17, that rests'upon the tops of such ties and passes beneath the ad jacent rail ends and the end portion of the frog including the tongue 16, and upon its upper side said base has two parallel upwardly. extending flanges, 18, that are spaced away from the adjacent outer sides. of the rail ends and frog to provide a space for the reception of a block, 19, between each flange and'the adjacent outer side of the rail and frog which block on its inner side fits between the rail head and the flange and thus aifords vertical bearings for the underside of the rail head and the upper side of the flange. Several parallel cross bolts, 20, pass through horizontally alining holes in flanges, 18, blocks, 19 and frog and rail ends and thereby a rigid connection of the parts men tioned is secured and as the base, 17, is secured by spikes or lag screws, 21, it will be seen that the rails and frog are securely held in place. To add to the security or firmness of the connection, the chair flanges, 18, have their inner sides which engage the blocks, 19, inclined inward and upward and the blocks are similarly inclined.

Thus nothing need be removed for the removal and replacement of a frog other than the bolts, 20 and blocks, 19, disturbance of the road bed in other respects being entirely unnecessary.

Preferably at intervals between the frog ends, there are chairs, 22, spiked or bolted to the ties and which have a base plate which extends along the tie underneath the frog and having vertical side-engaging arms through which and through alining holes in the frog, bolts, 23 are passed.

Besides the chairs, 22 and in order to assure the rigid support of the frog, I provide chairs or braces, 22a, long enough to extend across the top of adjacent ties and each having an inturned flange or lip which enters a recess, 22?), in the frog side to give an eX- tended grip or bearing upon the frog.

The chairs, 22 and 22a, when used, must, of course, be removed for changing the frog.

Opposite the narrow end portion of the frog and alongside each outer main or sid-. ing rail is a guard rail, 24, situated on the inner side of the main or siding rail and its head spaced from the rail head by an interposed bar, 25, lying between it and the inner side of the rail and clamped in place by a number of horizontal bolts, 26, which extend through alining holes in such parts and in a fish plate, 27, on the outer side and through the vertical arms of chairs or braces, 28, similar to the chairs, 22. Preferably the chairs, 22 and 28, are in alinement on the same crossties and at their adjacent ends they overlap and the overlapping parts are spiked or bolted to the tie beneath and thus a most subto a switch stand.

stantial and rigid road bed is provided.

The switch points, 12, at their movable ends are connected to a cross-bar, 29, that eX- tends crosswise of the road bed beneath the rails to which each is bolted or screwed by a bracket, 30. At mid-length said cross-bar has a lateral lug to which is connected a rod, 31, which extends substantially parallel with the bar, 29, to a point beyond the siding and The latter includes a vertical shaft or standard 32, rotatable in bearings in a base, 33 and at its lower end has a crank arm, 34, to which the outer end of the rod, 31, is pivotally connected so that by the rotation of the standard, 32, the switch points may be shifted by the longitudinal movement of the bar, 29. The crank, 34, is a double crank so that in the event that one end or part connected with the rod, 31, is damaged and out of commission, by the reversal of the crank, immediate repair may be made. The switch standard or shaft, 32 is rotatable by means of a switch stand hand lever L and at the top carries the customary signal to show whether the switch is open or closed.

The switch may thus be operated by hand but normally the switch points are intended to be automatically thrown by an approaching locomotive or train, the locomotive and, if desired, any of the cars of the train being provided with a member operable at the will of the engineer or trainman to engage and actuate a switch point operating device such as a lever, 35, situated a suitable distance in advance of the switch to give time for the operation of the switch by the approaching train. The lever, 35, is connected to a cross shaft 36, lying beneath the rails, and, outside the latter, has a crank, 37, which is connected to one end of a rod, 38 that extends along side the rail and which has a connection with the cross bar 29 for moving the latter longitudinally to move the switch points.

Because of the great length requiredv for the rod, 38, it is made of sections and the last section, 39, is the one with which the operative connection with the cross bar, 29, is made v and such connection includes a bell crank lever, 40, one arm of which is connected to the far end of the section or bar, 39, and the other arm of which is connected to a link, 41, by a bolt or screw, 42, that is pivotally connected to the outer end of the cross bar 29. The connection between the lever, 40, and the link, 41, is a removable bolt, 42, to permit the disconnection of the automatic means for operating the switch points when it is desirable to operate the switch points by the hand lever at the switch stand.

The end of the bar 39, opposite that to which the bell crank lever 40, is attached is pivotally connected with the forward end of switch points immovably tight against the side of the adjacent rail when the train is passing thereover, is pivoted to the upper ends of arms, 44, whose lower ends are pivoted to lugs or ears on the top of a base plate, 45, spiked or bolted to the tops of adjacent cross-ties. Of course, only one switch point at a time lies in contact with the adjacent rail, dependent on whether the switch 1s open or closed and the bar 39 maybe caused to operate as described both when a train is going ofl the main line on to the siding and when it is going off the siding on to the main line, it being necessary merely to shift the switch point clamping bar to suitthepositlon of the supporting arms, 44, to the direction of movement of the train.

The top of the rod or bar, 38, is also engageable by the wheel treads to hold the switch points in shifted position from the time they are automatically shifted.

Adjacent the free end of each switch point is a guard rail 240 similar to the guard rails at the entering or narrow end of the frog.

When the switch is subject to the action of the automatic mechanism, there is enough loose connection or play between the rod, 31, which transmits the movement of the hand lever to the switch point and the bar, 29, to allow the automatic movement of the bar, 29, to take place independently of the hand lever connection. This means merely the provision of stop pins or bolts 310 on opposite sides of the lug of the bar 29, through which the rod, 31, passes, spaced apart from opposite sides of said lug sufliciently to allow movement of the bar, 29, automatically and which lost motion is taken up when the switch points are operated by hand. 7

When a train which has passed on to a siding continues onward to the main track, the automatic closing of the switch by which the train enters the siding is effected by the provision of a duplicate of the lever, 35, at the proper point on the siding and its operation is accomplished by a suitable member on a car of the train operated by a train hand.

It will be understood that electrical or other means may be employed in place of the mechanism which requires the use of the lever, 35.

The pivoted ends of the switch points are mounted in chairs, 180, similar to those at each end of the frog and between the adjacent rails and switch point ends where such chairs are located is a filling block, 46. The

two sets of chairs for the two switch point ends are mounted on the same cross-ties and between the inner :ends of the baseplates thereof I insert a thrust block, 47,- which rigidly braces them against cross-wise move ment. Said thrustblock is bolted or'screwed to the inner ends of said base plates.

At intervals along the road bed say at ties about ten feet apart, I place on top of the ties a metal cross bar, 48, of a length to reach beneath all of the'rails on such cross-ties and having for each rail a seat 49. I Spikes orlag screws are provided adjacent each seat to secure the rail therein. The spacing of the rail seats assures the accurate gauge of the blocks, rails and a portion of the track'andthus makes unnecessary the use of the gauge in track building or repair. This meanssaving of" time "in road building and repair; And besides iteliminates danger of error in rail spacingor gauging when'the common track gauge is used. Moreover, it avoids the consequences of rotting ties and in'etfect, provides a metal tie with'the miniinum of metal.

' What I claim is: 1. A railroad road bed including main and switch rails and a frog and means to secure the frog in placethat permit removal" and replacement of the frog without disturbance of any members except those immediately concerned in holding the frog, and comprising tie-mounted clamps at the two extremi ties of the frog each clamp comprising a base plate long enough to" reachlacross at.

formations on difi'erentfsides for successive.

use for the same wheel surface, thefrog being removable and replaceable and tie- Y mounted clamps at the two extremities of the frogs, each clamp comprising a base plate long enough to reach across at least two ad jacent ties, two upwardly extending flanges spaced awayrfrom the outer sides of the rail end opposite which they are placed and blocks between such flanges and the rails and bolts passing horizontally through flanges, frog lying between the rails.

3. A railroad road bed including main and switch rails with laterally shiftable switch points and train wheel-engaging means along side a rail operatively connected with the switch points and acting to hold the latter immovably while a train is passing over the track and means independent of said rail engaging means for shifting the switch points to open and close the switch that simultaneously with closing the switch displace said rail engaging means to rail level engaging position.

at. A railroad road bed including main and switch rails with laterally shiftable switch points and train wheel-engaging means along side a rail operatively connected with the switch points and acting to hold the latter immovably while a train is passing over the track and means for' shifting the switch points to open and close the switch, comprising train and manual operating devices that are independently operable and acting simultaneously with the closing of the switch to displace said rail engaging means to rail level position. i

5. A railroad bed as in claim 2 having tie mounted chairs situated between the frog extremities with an inturned flange that engages a recess in the frog side.

6. A railroad road bed including main and switch rails with laterally shiftable switch points and train wheel-engaging means along side a rail operatively connected with the switch points and acting to hold the latter immovable while a train is passing over the track, means for shifting the switch points to open and close the switch, comprising a rock shaft crosswise of the track located remote from the switch points, a train-engaged lever on said rock shaft, a horizontally swinging bell crank lever situated adjacent the free ends of the switch points with one arm of i which said wheel-engaging means is connected, a cross bar with which the other arm of the bell crank lever is connected with which the switch points are connected, a hand operated switch stand and connections between the latter and said cross bar that include a rod and lost motion connections between said rod and said cross bar.

Invtestimony whereof I hereunto afiix my signature.

ALFONSO MARIANI. 

